Taping and folding machine



June 2, 1936 J. E. M INTIRE TAPING AND FOLDING MACHINE Filed Dec. 20,1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 2, 1936 J MclNTlRE 2,042,545

TAPING AND FOLDING MACHINE File d Dec. 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2fivvmvrm wamm Patented June 2, 1936 urrso STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,042,545TAPING AND FOLDING MACHINE Application December 20, 1933, Serial No.703,323

12 Claims.

This invention relates to the application of a reinforcing element to apiece of sheet material and to the application of such a reinforcingelement and the subsequent folding of the margin of the piece of sheetmaterial.

In the manufacture of boots and shoes, it is customary to apply tocertain parts of the uppers thereof a reinforcing element which iscommonly a piece of cord or tape and will be referred to herein, forconvenience, as a piece of tape. This tape in some instances is aprepared tape already coated with an adhesive substance; and in otherinstances, it is coated progressively just prior to its progressiveapplication to the shoe part and before the folding of the margin ofsaid part, by being drawn through a bath of cement, the workengagingelements of the folding machine, which is commonly used, serving notonly to feed the shoe part but also to feed the tape. The tape issupplied in the form of a long strip wound upon a reel; and, whether itis a prepared, coated tape which is drawn directly from the supply reelto the work or is an uncoated tape which is drawn through a cementreceptacle before reaching the work, a considerable force is required topull it along, with the result that a considerable drag is exerted by itupon the forwardly moving work.

In order to obviate this undesirable condition, there is provided, inone aspect of the invention, between the supply reel and the foldingmachine or between the cement receptacle and the folding machine, apull-off mechanism which pulls the tape from the reel, and through thecement receptacle, if there is one, and feeds the tape to the foldingmachine, the pull-off mechanism being operated by the folding machinethrough an adjustable connection so that the rate of feed of the tape bythe pull-off mechanism may be varied with respect to the rate of feed ofthe work if desired. The illustrated machine comprises a supply reelhaving a coil of tape, a cement receptacle, a pull-off mechanism forpulling the tape from the reel, drawing it through the cement andfeeding it forward, and a mechanism which applies the tape to the work,feeds the work and the tape, and folds the margin of the work, thework-feeding mechanism being adjustably con nected with the pull-onmechanism. With such a construction, the tape arrives at the work underno tension, since a small amount of slack is maintained between thepull-off mechanism and the work.

Hitherto when an indeterminate length of tape has been drawn throughcement in a receptacle and then applied to a piece of work, the cementused has been a so-called rubber cemen that is a solution of rubber innaphtha or some similar solvent. When such a cement is used, it does notform immediately a properly sticky coating; and consequently it has beennecessary to lead the coated tape up to the ceiling and back.

again one or more times, or otherwise to festoon it, in crder to permitthe solvent to evaporate suiiiciently before the coated tape reaches thework so that the coating shall be properly sticky. Aside from thenecessity of providing apparatus for such festooning of the coated tape,this methad has the more serious disadvantage that at the end of eachdays work a considerable length of tape-namely all that which is infestoons when the days work ce.asesmust be thrown away since'the coatingof cement will not be properly sticky on the following morning.

In order to obviate these disadvantages, means are provided for treatingthe tape with rubber latex and immediately scraping surplus latex fromcoated surfaces. In the illustrated machine, the tape is drawn through abath of latex and is then subjected to the action of four scrapers whichremove the surplus latex from the entire width of both faces of the tapeand from the angularly disposed edges thereof. After such treatment, thetape is properly sticky, does not require to be festooned and may be feddirectly to the work, preferably by a pull-off mechanism, as shown. Theapparatus hitherto necessary for festooning the tape is thus no longerrequired, and at the end of the days work, only a comparatively shortlength of tape is wasted.

- Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a machine for coating tape, applying it to apiece of work and folding the margin of the work by the use of which themethod referred to above may be practiced,

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the pull-ofi mechanism which draws the tapefrom the supply reel and feeds it toward the work-feeding mechanism ofthe folding machine,

Fig. 3 is a plan of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is a perspective showing part of the under side of the cover ofthe cement receptacle and the mounting of the scrapers which removesurplus cement from the tape,

Fig. 5 is a detail in perspective showing the connection of the pull-offmechanism with the work-feeding mechanism of the folding machine,

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section through the stem of the presser foot ofthe machine showing a piece of work in process of being operated upon,and

Fig. 7 is a view looking down upon the top of the cement receptacle.

Referring first to Fig. l, the machine comprises three units, a unitindicated as a whole at A which comprises a reel for a supply of tapeand a receptacle for cement, a unit indicated as a whole at B whichcomprises mechanism for pulling the tape from the reel through thecement receptacle and feeding it forward, and a unit C which comprises afolding machine where the tape is applied to the work and the margin ofthe work is folded over upon it. The folding machine C, except forcertain structures to be de scribed later, is or may be the same as themachine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,702,598, grantedFebruary 19, 1929, upon an application filed in the name of Perley R.Glass. In this machine, the work is fed over a table 9 by a cooperatinghammer or fold-presser I! and an anvil I3. The hammer has a fourmotionfeed movement, and the anvil moves back and forth in the line of feed.The work, such for example as a piece of leather 100 the edge of whichhas been skived, first encounters a gage or guide 5 (Fig. 6) which bendsup the edge of the leather to some extent. It is then acted upon by areciprocating folding finger I! which bends the margin of the work aboutthe edge IQ of a creaser or presser 2| to form a fold; and is finallygripped between the hammer and the anvil to cause the fold to be pressedand the work to be fed.

The folding machine herein shown differs from the machine of the patentin several particulars. The creaser or presser 2| is of the shape shownin Figs. 1 and 6 and has an upwardly curved portion extending to theright. In the outer end of this upwardly curved portion there is formeda tape guide |2|. To the left of this guide. the presser 2i carries asmall r011 23; and the under face of the presser has formed in it agroove. The tape passes down through the tape guide IZQ, beneath thesmall roll 23 and through the groove in the under face of the presser,the tape being thus directed upon the work I00 in position to bereceived in the apex of the fold formed by the cooperation. of thefolding finger I! with the edge 29 of the presser or creaser 2|. Thefold is completed and pressed by the descent of the hammer, and the workwith the tape enclosed in the fold is then fed to the left by thesimultaneous movement of the hammer and the anvil. Mounted on the frameof the machine are a guide roll 25 and a stationary guide 21 fordirecting the tape from the pull-off mechanism B.

The feed mechanism of the folding machine is utilized to operate thepull-off mechanism B. In the folding machine there is a rod 59 (Fig. 5)mounted for oscillation about an axis which contains the pointed ends oftwo alined screws, one of which is shown at El, said rod having integralwith it an arm 61'. Pivoted to the outer end of this arm is the lowerend of the stem H of a yoke which is moved up and down to varyingextents in accordance with the length of the intermittent feed movementsof the hammer and anvil, and hence in accordance with the rate of feedof the work. These movements of the stem H cause the rod 59 to oscillatewith different amplitudes according to the rate of feed of the work. Themechanism which has just been described, including the parts 59, 61 and6 is the same as the corresponding mechanism shown in Fig. 8 of thepatent wherein the corresponding parts bear the same reference numerals.In the machine of the present application, a second arm 29 is fast atits inner end to the oscillating rod 59 and at its outer end is pivotedto the lower end of a link 3|, the upper end of which (Fig. 1) ispivoted at 33 to a small block 35 of the pull-off mechanism so that, aswill presently appear, the pull-off mechanism is operated from theoscillating rod 59 in such manner that, as the work-engaging members ofthe folding machine feed the work, the pull-01f mechanism feeds thetape.

The tape 200 is led from a coil on a reel 31 down through a hole in thecover of a cement receptacle 39, around two small guide rods 4|, 43,which are located beneath the surface of the cement, and then up througha second opening in the cover of the cement receptacle and over a guideroll to the pull-off mechanism B. Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, thepull-off mechanism is mounted on a standard 41. Rotatable in bearings inthe standard is a shaft 49 which is rotated intermittently in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, by an intermittent grip deviceactuated by the link 3|. Referring to Fig. 2, the intermittent gripdevice illustrated is in the form of the well-known Horton clutch andincludes the usual cage carrying spring-pressed rollers 5|. This cage isrigid with a member 53 having driven into it a pin on which the smallblock 35 is adjustably mounted. The intermittent grip device will not bedescribed further since the details of its construction form no part ofthe present invention and any suitable intermittent grip device may beemployed. It will be understood, however, that when the link 3| ispulled down (Fig. 2) the roll cage is rocked counterclockwise by theaxis of the shaft 49, and the shaft is rotated a short distancecounterclockwise, and that when the link is pushed up, the shaft remainsstationary. In order to insure that there shall be no backward rotationof the shaft 49, a screw 51 (Fig. 3) bears frictionally with its innerend upon the shaft. The connection between the intermittent grip deviceand the work-engaging and feeding parts of the folding machine is suchthat the feeding of the tape by the rotation of the shaft 49 and thefeeding of the work by the hammer and anvil take place simultaneously.The shaft 49 is rotated intermittently, as has been explained, by therocking of the member 53 due to the movement of the link 3| which ispivoted to the small block 35, through a bore in which the pin 55extends. In order to vary the throw of the pin 55 and the member 53relative to the extent of the up-and-down movement of the link 3| so asto vary the rate of feed by the pull-off mechanism with respect to therate of feed of the work, the block 35 is adjustable along the pin 55.To this end, the block has a pin 13 which is slidable through a bore inthe member 53 and is integral at one end with the block 35. The otherend of the pin 13 (Figs. 2 and 3) has threaded on it a thumb-nut I5which extends into a slot in the member 53 and is thus held fromlongitudinal in movement. Turning the thumb-nut |5 adjusts the block 35along the pin 55, and a lock-nut 11 holds the pin and block in adjustedposition. Ordinarily, the pull-off mechanism and the workfeedingmechanism feed the tape at the same rate. some operators, however, pullback on the work as it is going through the folding machine in whichcase it is desirable that the pull-01f mechanism feed the tape a littleslower than the folding machine theoretically feeds the work. In anycase, however, the pull-off mechanism and the work-feeding mechanism areso adjusted that there is always a little slack in the tape between thepull-off mechanism and the creaser or presser 2| so that the tape isunder no tension when it reaches the work.

The shaft 49 at the end opposite to that which carries the intermittentgrip device is provided with a toothed grooved lower feed roll 19.Directly above this roll is a similar upper feed roll 8I,'the shaft ofwhich is rotatably mounted in one end of a carrier 85 pivoted near itsmiddle on a shaft 81. A compression spring 89' the tension of which maybe varied by turning a screw 9I urges the carrier to swing as far as astop screw 93 will permit, said screw being threaded through the carrier85 and contacting with the top of the standard 41. The shaft 49, at theend nearest to the intermittent grip device has a gear 95 which mesheswith a gear 91 on a shaft 99 which is rotatable in the standard 41, thelatter gear meshing with a gear IIlI on the shaft 81, and said gear IDImeshing also with a gear I93 which is fast to the shaft 83 of the upperfeed roll 8 I. In this way the upper and lower feed rolls BI, 19 for thetape are driven intermittently in the direction indicated by the arrowsin Figs. 1 and 2. The upper feed roll 8| (Fig. 3) is provided with ascraper or stripper I95 having teeth which extend into the grooves inthe roll, the stem of the scraper being fastened by screws I91 on thecarrier 85; and the lower feed roll 19 (Fig. 1) is provided with asimilar scraper or stripper I09carried by the standard 41. These membersact to keep the rolls clean and to prevent the tape from beingaccidentally carried around either roll.

The cement preferably employed is an aqueous dispersion of rubberhereinafter referred to as rubber latex, since it has been found that byusing latex and removing the surplus latex from the tape, the tapebecomes properly sticky substantially as soon as it leaves thereceptacle and may be led directly to the pull-off mechanism. To removesurplus latex from the tape, four scrapers are employed which are bestshown in Fig. 4, said scrapers being mounted on the under side of thecover I39 of the cement receptacle. A scraper III, adapted to contactwith the whole width of one face of the tape 299, is slidably mounted ina guideway on the under side of the cover I39, said scraper havingextending upwardly from its top (Fig. 7) a threaded stud I I3 to receivea wing-nut I I5. The stud projects up through a slot I I1 in the coverso that, when the wing-nut I I5 has been loosened, the scraper may beremoved to be cleaned. Normally, the inner side of the stud II3 contactswith the left-hand end of the slot II1 so that, when this scraper isoperative, it always occupies the same position. Referring again to Fig.4, a second scraper I I9 for treating the whole of the other face of thetape is slidably mounted in another portion of the same guideway inwhich the scraper I I I is mounted, said second scraper having athreaded hole I23 to receive the stem of a screw I25 (Fig. '1) whichpasses through a slot in the cover I39. This second scraper is thusadjustable toward and from the first scraper I I I to provide for tapeof different thicknesses. The two scrapers, which have just beendescribed, serve to remove surplus latex from both faces of the tape. Inorder to remove surplus latex from the edges of the tape positioned atan angle to the faces thereof, two small scrapers I21, I29 (Fig. 4) areprovided. These small scrapers have upturned ends which are received ina guideway extending across the scraper III and are held in position byscrews I3I, I33 which pass through transverse slots in the scrapers I21,I29 and are threaded into the scraper III. The cover I39 of the latexreceptacle ismade readily removable by providing it with a plurality of.slotted ears I35 (Fig. '1) into and out of the slots in which may beswung rods I31 which are pivoted at their lower ends on pivot pins I4I(Fig. 1) carried by the base I43 upon which the three units A, B and Care mounted. The cement receptacle 39 is also furnished with slottedears I41 which register with the slotted ears I35 on the cover so thatthe pivoted rods I31 and their wing-nuts I45 serve not only to hold thecover 5 I39 on the receptacle 39 but to position the receptacle and holdit on the base. Because rubber latex coagulates very readily, the cementreceptacle and the scrapers must be frequently cleaned, the commonpractice being to clean them each day at the end of the days work. Theconstruction of the cement receptacle and scrapers which has just beendescribed facilitates this cleaning operation. When the wing-nuts I45have been losened and the rods I31 swung down, the receptacle 39 may beremoved from the the base and the cover I39 may be removed from thereceptacle. The wing-nut II5 may then be loosened to free the scraperIII with the two small scrapers which are carried by it. The fourthscraper II9 may be removed after the screw I25 has been taken out. Thusthe cement receptacle may readily be detached from the base and thescrapers may readily be detached from the receptacle.

The cement is maintained in the receptacle 39 at the level shown by abarometic feed device comprising an inverted bottle I49 having a springpressed valve I5I which opens when the bottle is inverted and placed inthe position shown. A 30; bent rod I53 having a horizontal arm coveredby a rubber tube I55 and a vertical arm rotatable in a bearing sleeveI51, may be swung into the operative position shown to hold the bottlein place or may be swung out of that position to permit 35: the bottleto be removed. The sleeve is vertically adjustable in a lug I59 and isheld in adjusted position by a set screw I5 I, said lug being integralwith the standard I63 which carries at its upper end the axle I65 of thereel 31.

Assuming that the receptacle and scrapers are clean, the end of the tape200 on the reel is led through a hole in the cover I39, down around thepins 4|, 43 and up through the passageway enclosed by the scrapers whichare then adjusted 45 into the proper position. The cover is thenfastened down, the bottle I49 put in place, and the tape is led throughthe pull-01f mechanism B, through the guides 21, 25 and I2I and thendown under the small roll 23 of the presser foot 2 I. The operatorpresents to the folding machine a piece of work, for example a piece ofleather I99 having a skived margin or a piece of leather or other sheetmaterial having attached to its edge a socalled French binding, themargin of the work preferably having been coated with cement, andoperates the folding machine in the usual manner, starting and stoppingit and varying the rate of feed of the work as may be necessary. After anumber of pieces of work have been operated upon, the tape whichconnects them may be cut with a pair of scissors.

Although the illustrated machine includes means for coating tape withcement, it should be understood that in case a precoated tape isemployed, the coating means may be omitted and the tape led directlyfrom the supply reel to the pull-off mechanism. Further although themachine is particularly adapted to the use of latex as a cement, itshould be understood that the machine may be used With the old form ofcement, if desired, by festooning the tape in the old, wellknown manner,or otherwise drying the cement until it becomes properly sticky.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1, A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means or feeding the work,foldforming and fold-pressing means, a reel for a supply of tape,mechanism for pulling the tape from the reel and for feeding the tapetoward the fold-forming and pressing means, means for directing the tapeupon the work, means for operating the pull-o-if mechanism from theworkfeeding means, and means for varying the rate of feed of thepull-off mechanism with respect to the rate of feed of the work-feedingmeans.

2. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,foldforming and fold-pressing means, a reel for a supply of tape,mechanism for pulling the tape from the reel and for feeding the tapetoward the fold-forming and pressing means, means for directing the tapeupon the work in position to extend into the fold, means for operatingthe pull-off mechanism from the work-feeding means, and means forvarying the rate of feed of the pull-off mechanism with respect to therate of feed of the work-feeding means.

3. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,fold-forming and fold-pressing means, a reel for a supply of tape,mechanism for pulling the tape from the reel and for. feeding the tapetoward the fold-forming and pressing means,

3 means for directing the tape upon the work,

means including an oscillating lever for intermittently operating thepull-off mechanism, means for oscillating the lever from thework-feeding means, and means for varying the extent of the oscillationof the lever to vary the rate of feed of the tape by the pull-offmechanism.

4. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,foldforming and fold-pressing means, a reel for a supply of tape, areceptacle for cement, a pulloff mechanism for drawing the tape throughthe cement and for feeding the tape toward the foldforming and pressingmeans, means for directing the coated tape upon the work, means foroperating the pull-off mechanism from the workfeeding means, and meansfor varying the rate of feed of the pull-ofi mechanism with respect tothe rate of feed of the work-feeding means.

5. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the Work,foldforming and fold-pressing means, a reel for a supply of tape, areceptacle for cement, a pulloff mechanism for drawing the tape throughthe cement and or feeding the tape toward the foldforming and pressingmeans, means for directing the coated tape upon the work in position toextend into the fold, means for operating the pulloff mechanism from thework-feeding means, and means for varying the rate of feed of thepull-off mechanism with respect to the rate of feed of the work-feedingmeans.

6. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,foldforming and fold-pressing means, a reel for a supply of tape, areceptacle for cement, a pulloff mechanism for drawing the tape throughthe cement and for feeding the tape toward the foldforming and pressingmeans, means for directing the coated tape upon the work, meansincluding an oscillating lever for intermittently operating the pull-offmechanism, means for oscillating the lever from the work-feeding means,and means for varying the extent of the oscillations of the lever tovary the rate of feed of the tape by the pull-off mechanism.

'7. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of Work and for applyinga tape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,fold-forming and fold-pressing means, a receptacle for cement, means forleading the tape through the cement and directing it upon the work inposition to be engaged by the workfeeding means, and means for scrapingcement from the entire surfaces of both faces of the tape and from anedge of the tape positioned at an angle to said faces before it reachesthe work.

8. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and for applyinga tape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,fold-forming and fold-pressing means, a receptacle for cement, means forleading the tape through the cement and directing it upon the work inposition to be engaged by the work-feeding means, and a plurality ofscrapers mounted on the receptacle in positions to engage the wholewidths of both faces of the tape and the angularly related edgesthereof.

9. A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and for applyinga tape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,fold-forming and fold-pressing means, a receptacle for cement, means forleading the tape through the cement and directing it upon the work inposition to be engaged by the work-feeding means, and a plurality ofscrapers mounted on the receptacle in positions to engage the entiresurfaces of both faces of the tape and the edges thereof angularlyrelated to said faces, said scrapers being adjustable to provide fortapes of different widths and thicknesses.

If). A machine for folding the margin of a piece of work and applying atape to the work having, in combination, means for feeding the work,fold-forming and fold-pressing means including a presser foot, therebeing a passageway in the presser foot through which the tape passes,and a roll carried by the presser foot and engaging one face of thetape.

11. A machine for applying tape to a piece of work having, incombination, means for feeding the work and for pressing the tapeagainst the Work, a receptacle for cement, means for leading the tapethrough the cement, means for removing surplus cement from both faces ofthe tape, means for directing it upon the work in position to be engagedby the work-feeding and pressing means, and means for drawing the tapethrough the cement and presenting it without tension to the directingmeans 12. A machine for applying tape to a piece of work having, incombination, means for feeding the work and for pressing the tapeagainst the Work, a receptacle for cement, means for leading the tapethrough the cement, means for re moving surplus cement from both facesand both edges of the tape, means for directing it upon the work inposition to be engaged by the workfeeding and pressing means, and meansfor drawing the tape through the cement and presenting it withouttension to the directing means.

JAMES E'. MCINTIRE.

